[Magdalen] Keith update & thanks for prayers

[Jay Weigel]

It could be any number of things, Sally, many not at all connected with
alcohol. I don't know if you remember, but Judy F.'s son had a bout with
liver problems a year or two ago and they turned out to be related to
ibuprofen. The round of doxycycline and how he felt on it may be a clue
also. And it could be related to his irregular lifestyle and perhaps
dietary indiscretion rather than alcohol; my dear friend's granddaughter
was diagnosed with fatty infiltration of her liver at 21 and it was thought
to be entirely related to diet as she does not drink at all. He could also
have had an undiagnosed infection some time ago that damaged his liver. So
there are a whole lot of things to be looked at; however, giving it a rest
with no alcohol and probably a low-fat diet is probably not a bad idea.
Just be aware that many drugs are metabolized in the liver, which is a
double-edged sword because that means they can also damage it.

On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 4:28 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:

> Prayers continue, Sally,  I hope the wait won't be long and that your and
> Keith's anxiety will stay at a low level.
>
> Ginga
>
> On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 4:04 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks, everyone for supporting us in prayer, it's been a very peaceful
> day
> > with little of what might have been a lot of pointless anxiety. We took a
> > trip out to the kids' school to watch Donal practising for this weekend's
> > riding show, stopping off at a small town that has a "farmer's co-op" to
> > buy some dog food that is only sold there. I'm hoping  it will settle
> > Gryffin's constantly upset tummy, he is not getting on well with either
> > Royal Canin or Hills. Expensive does not mean its the best...!
> >
> > This evening my medical sister phoned with Keith's test results...not
> what
> > we expected and we're still trying to figure out what it means. We're in
> > good company, she says the Radiologists have also been discussing it all
> > day and still haven't resolved the question to their satisfaction.
> >
> > Bottom line - his liver lit up the screen with many little "spots" that
> the
> > doctors think  (though can't be 100% sure) are "haem-angiomas" (this is
> > Linda's firm opinion FWIW).  Spots have a rich blood supply but not
> likely
> > to be malignancy especially as there are no other markers of cancer in
> the
> > blood tests and CT scan shows everything else is clear. Also no infection
> > so we can rule that out and stop the antibiotics he's been taking.
> >
> > The less-good news is that he has a damaged liver, with fatty
> infiltration
> > and indications on the blood test that all is not well. So instead of
> being
> > referred to a surgeon, as we were fully expecting, he will have to go to
> a
> > physician for more tests and for treatment to improve liver function and
> > hopefully prevent further harm.
> >
> > This kind of liver disease is associated with excess alcohol but the
> weird
> > thing is, Keith doesn't drink to obvious excess, nor is he obese. He was
> on
> > Doxycycline for quite a while a couple of years back when he had to go to
> > Nigeria, and at the time felt very unwell on it - but perhaps that was
> his
> > liver not coping. In general he's been very healthy his whole life, with
> > little need for medical treatment. We're also going to call our doctors
> > back in Somerset West to see if they have some previous results we can
> use
> > for comparison, as Keith thinks he did have a Liver Function Test for
> some
> > reason back then.
> >
> > It's so strange that we've been talking about Anglicans over-using and
> > abusing alcohol, and how it creeps up on you because of cultural
> > acceptability - and also strange that last week on Sky we watched a news
> > insert about liver disease which has increased 400% in Britain.  But,
> short
> > of another explanation for the damage, it seems that wine has been doing
> > Keith no favours; and that the fact that he never feels "drunk" is just
> > another way of saying that his liver has been taking a massive hit
> without
> > him knowing it.
> >
> > Keith has a very "irregular" life - spending days and weeks on end away
> > from home in guest houses and eating out, and most of the time he's home
> he
> > sits at the dining room table working on his laptop. A glass of two of
> wine
> > in the evening...a simple pleasure it seems but not a safe one for him,
> and
> > perhaps there are others like him who, because their drinking isn't a
> > social problem in any way, think it's not a health problem either!!
> >
> > There is a very good physician in town who treats many liver patients (I
> > think that in America that would be an "internist" as doctors in general
> > are called physicians, here it's only the specialists in internal
> > medicine). So we'll call him tomorrow and Linda will also have a word
> with
> > him, hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the second to next
> step.
> > The next step's already happened - no more alcohol!! Regardless of what
> > caused this or didn't cause it, that poor liver needs help and
> protection.
> >
> > Keith says that he doesn't drink wine (his preferred alcoholic drink) for
> > inebriation, since he never feels much of an effect from it, but
> > rather because he likes it. I agree with him - other drinks are boring,
> too
> > sweet, too bland, or not enjoyable with food (like tea). We are going to
> > have to get creative and find the elusive "comparable quality" drinks
> that
> > the Church Guidelines are talking about.
> >
> > I really hope that this has been caught in time to prevent complications
> or
> > further deterioration. Linda's saying the CT scan should be repeated in a
> > month's time just to make sure the spots, whatever they are, haven't
> > changed in size or number. If they do change, a cancer scenario would be
> > revisited, most likely with an attempt to take a fine needle biopsy in
> the
> > X ray department. It's good news that this is unlikely but it's not going
> > to be an easy few weeks for Keith.
> >
> > Sally D <feeling relieved and sad at the same time>
> >
>